Moistening device for textile machinery



April 29, 1924. 1,491,785

' H. C. BREHMER MOISTENING DEVICE FOR TEXTILE MACHINERY Filed July 131923 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 l/erman C. bnefimer ATTORNEY April 29 1924.1,491,785

H. C. BREHMER MOISTENING DEVICE FOR TEXTILE MACHINERY Filec- July 13.1923' 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jlqnf'il 29, 1924. r I H. QGBREHMER MOISTENING.DEVICE FOR TEXTILE MACHINERY Filed July 15 19 3 a a a a H E m.ififlwwiwm iHHHfH-HH April 29, 1924.

H. C. BREHMER MOISTENING DEVICE FOR TEXTILE MACHINERY 5 Sheets-Shee'ZZZD Filed July 13 April 29, 1924.

H. C. BREHMER MOISTENING DEVICE FOR TEXTILE MACHINERY Filed July 13 19235 Sheets-Sheet 5 //Vl /V70/? Herman C. Brehmer Patented Apr. 29, 3924.

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HERMAN C. BREHMER, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO H. W.BUTTERW'ORTH & SONS, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

MOISTENING DEVICE FOR TEXTILE MACHINERY.

Application filed July 13,

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, HERMAN CHRISTIAN Bnnimrnn, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and resident of Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia, and Stateof Pennsylvania, have invented an Improvement in Moistening Devices forTextile Machinery, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has for its object the construction of a spraying devicefor vaporizing water and treating a traveling web of fabric thereby in acontinuous manner, and more particularly, my object is to so constructthe spraying devices that uniform action may be assured and the amountof the spray or vapor accurately adjusted to suit the re quirements ofthe fabric being treated.

With the above and other objects in view, the nature of which will bemore fully understood from the description hereinafter, the inventionconsists in the novel construction of moistening devices for textilemachinery, as hereinafter more fully described and defined in theclaims.

Referring to the drawings: Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a fabricmoistening machine embodyingmy improvements; Fig. 2 is a plan view ofthe same; Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view of the sprayingapparatus proper, taken on line 3-3 of Fig. i; Fig. 4. is a verticalsection of the same taken on line 4.- of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a verticaltransverse section of the same, taken on line 55 of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is anend view of a modified arrangement of spraying means for simultaneouslytreating opposite sides of the fabric and embodying my invention; Fig 7a sectional view of one of the spray nozzles, more particularlyillustrating its mode of attachment for varying the spray; and Fig. -8is a perspective view of a detail of the nozzle of Fig. 7.

2 is the main frame of the machine and is provided at the top withtransverse bars 3, 3, over which the fabric 4 is guided. Ordinarily, thefabric is supplied to the machine over suitable tension bars 5, one ofwhich alone is shown, thence under a guide roll 6, thence over the bars3, 3, thence under the I tension and winding roll 7 by which it is woundupon a mandrel 8 in roll form, as indicated at 9. Downward pressure isapplied upon the mandrel by suitable devices 10, well known in the art,and the lower portion of which alone is shown, such devices 1923i SerialNo. 651,270.

applying as much pressure as may be desired between the cloth roll 9 andthe surface of End bars 3 may extend between the transverse bars 3, 3,at each end, and may continue downward to form the end of a boxlikespace, said space being closed on the remaining sides by upright wallportions 3". The bottom of this space is closed by a shallow traystructure 16 in which the lower parts of the box-like structure rests,as indicated in Fig. 5, the said shallow tray itself being supported bya suitable support 17 extending down to the floor.

The spraying apparatus proper is more fully disclosed in Figs. 3, 4, 5and 7, and special reference will now be made to these figures.Threetanks 18, 19 and 20 are arranged inparallel relation transverselyof the machine above the tray 16 and supported upon transverse supports21, (Figs. 4c and 5), resting upon the bottom tray 16, whereby freespace is provided under said tanks for permitting the flow and escape ofwater which may be precipitated into the tray. The tanks 18, 19 and 20are separated from each other to provide spaces 22 between them in whichthe spray nozzles are arranged, to-

gether with air pressure supplying means.

The tanks 18, 19 and 20 are provided, near one end, with overflow pipes23 which are madeconical at the bottom to fit drain outlets 24, saidpipes 23 insuring a definite level of the water in the tanks and at thesame time to permit, when necessary,the full draining of the tanks. Thedrain outlets 24 extend through large apertures 25in the bottom of thetray 16 and discharge into a transverse trough 26 which is common to allthree drain outlets from the respective tanks and also receives thedrainage of the spray water which may be received in the tray 16, as allof said apertures 25 from the tray also discharge into the transversetrough 26. The trough 26 has a drain or discharge 27 for leading thewater away to the waste pipe.

Secured in the two side walls of the middle IOU tank 20 and in-theadjacent side walls of the tanks 18 and 19 are angular water pipes 28,the lower ends of which lead downward toward the bottom of the tanks andthe upper horizontal ends 28 project laterally through the tank wall andterminate in a nozzle part 29. The horizontal portion 28 is screwthreaded and extends through a hole 31 in the tank wall of considerablehigher length than the diameter of the pipe, so that it may be adjustedvertically. If desired, this hole may simply be a round hole of largerdiameter than the pipe. 32 are nuts screwed on the pipe and 33 arepacking washers between the nuts and the tank wall, whereby when thenuts are screwed on the pipe 28 against the wall, they clamp the pipedefinitely'in position upon the wall but with capacity for verticaladjustment.

The air blast nozzle30 is formed on the upper end of a screw threadedpipe 35 which is screwed downward into a transverse air conduit 36, saidair conduit being rigidly positioned in the space 22 between the tanks.To insure accuracy in the right angled arrangements of the nozzles 29and 30, I provide a right angled frame 3?, the two arms of which areslidably fitted over the respective nozzle pipes 28 and 35 to positionthem in alinement in'the same plane. The arms of this frame 37 areslotted and nuts 38 are provided in the slots and respectively screwedupon the threaded portions of the nozzle pipes 28 and 35, all of whichis shown in Fig. 7 The angle frame is further slotted in the plane ofthe nozzles and from one of the apertures to the other, as indicated at39 in Fig. 8, and the two sides 40 thus pro vided may be drawn togetherby a clamping screw 41for tightening said frame upon the nozzle pipeswhen the adjustment has been made. It will now be understood that by theadjustment of the nozzles 29 and 30, a coarser or finer spray may heproduced, this also being dependent somewhat upon the amount of airpressure. The nozzle pipe 35 is screwed firmly into the air conduit 36and is normally immovable thereon. If the nuts 32 of the nozzle pipe 28are loosened and the clamping screw 41 also loosened, the nuts 38 may beadjusted to raise and lower the nozzle 29 and to adjust it horizontallyto or from the nozzle 30, and when the proper adjustment is made, theclamping screw 41 is tightened and thereafter the nuts 32 are tightenedupon the side wall of the tank.

As will be seen, there are a very large number of these spray nozzlesand all of them are constructed in the manner just described, so thatthey have capacity for adjustment. As the spray nozzles have very smallapertures, it is important that no lint or fine material floating in thewater shall be permitted to find access to them and, therefore, if de-18, 19 and 20 are provided with removable covers 43 which are preferablyinclined to shed the spray water which may fall upon them. These coverseffectually prevent any fine lint or fibers which may fall from thefabric being treated from finding their way into the water containedwithin the tank.

The air conduits 36 are preferably formed of light castings ofrectangular cross section and are clamped at each end into the endplate'44 which may be formed as a continu ation across the air spaces 22of the ends of the tanks 18, 19 and 20, so that it is definitelypositioned in reference to the water tanks. In the special means forclamping these conduits to theend walls 44, I prefer the constructionillustrated in the right hand of Fig. 4, wherein a flanged bushing 45 issecured to the end ofthe conduit 36 by being soldered therein and saidbushing screw threaded upon the inside for receiving a pipe nipple 46leading from an elbow 47 of an air supply pipe 48, said nipple having anut 49 for clamping the endplate or wall 44 between it and the flange ofthe bushing 45, to make an air tight joint and also a frame connectionfor the air supplying pipe to the conduit. The same construction isemployed at each end of the conduit 36, and where the length of theconduit 36 is great, I provide further means of supply ing air underpressure to the interior of the conduit and this construction isclearlyillustrated in Figs. 3, 4 and In general, this part of theimprovement relates to special means extending through the outer tanks18 r and 19 for delivering air directly into the" conduits 36, and aseach of these means are the same, it will suffice to describe the meansas applying to one of the conduits only.

The interior of the tank 19 is provided 'with a transverse tubular part50 which is definitely secured therein in any suitable manner but so asto provide a tubular passage transversely through the tank. Extendingthrough this tubular passage thus formed is an air supply pipe 51 whichscrews into a head 52 bolted to the conduit by bolts 53 and having aninward tubular extension 54 extending transversely across the conduitfor bracing against the strain of the bolts, said part apertured topermit the entrance of the air into the conduit. A nut 55 on the pipe 51may be employed for firmly positioning the parts in respect to the tank.Any other suitable manner of supplying air to the conduit may beemployed,vif so desired, in lieu of that shown.

The description thus given in connection with the tank 19 equallyapplies to the construction in connection with the tank 18, the onlydifference being that the air supplying pipes 51 enter in oppositedirections.

It will be understood from Fig. 4, that when the tubular part 50 isintroduced transversely of the tanks 18 and 19, for permitting thepassage of the air pipes 51, an obstruction will have been introducedfor the downward extension of the nozzle pipes 28 in the vicinity ofsaid tubular passage, and consequently said pipes are bent laterally anddownward, as indicated in Fig. 4, and, moreover, as the pipe 28immediately above the tubular part would interfere with thecorresponding pipe next to the right in Fig. 4, it is necessary toextend this pipe further to the rear, as at 28 in Fig. 3, so that it notonly clears the tubular part 50, but also the pipe 28 of the nozzle nextadjacent.

While I do not limit myself to any particular means for supplyingcompressed air to the conduits and their nozzles, the particular meanspreferred is shown more fully in Figs. 1 and 2.

56 represents a pressure blower and is driven from the power shaft 13 bya belt and pulley drive 57. The compressed air is delivered into a main58 which, in turn, delivers to a head 59 from which extend pipes 60provided with butterfly controlled valves 61, of any suitableconstruction, and said pipes 60 extend upwardly and connect with thepipes 51 leading to the middle of the conduits 36 before described andalso with pipes 48 leading to the ends of the said conduits 36. Anyother suitable arrangement of air supply to the conduits maybe employed,if so desired. The valves 61 may be adjusted to increase or decrease theair pressure in respect to either of the conduits 36, as may bedesirable.

The water supply pipe 42 has branches opening into each of the tanks 18,19 and 20, as indicated at 42, 42 and 42 respectively, and as the tank20 has doublethe number of spray pipes 28 and, therefore, must handletwice the amount of water as compared with the tanks 18 and. 19, thewater supply nozzle 42 is made larger than those of the tanks 18 and 19and similarly, the overflow pipe 23 is desirably made larger to preventany abnormal rising of the water level in said tank 20. It is the intentand purpose that the water levels shall be in substantial alinement withthe nozzles 29 so that there will be no appreciable dripping from thesaid nozzles when the air pressure is not on.

Interposed between the fabric passing machine is out of operation butwhich are capable of being raised to open communication between thespraying devices and the fabric to the desired extent when in operation.To enable the adjustment, the hinged doors are provided with leatherstraps 63 having holes similar to any trunk strap and which may behooked over pin 64 in the side of the frame 2 for holding the doors inopen position. hen these doors are extended upward, they provide freepassage for the water spray to reach the fabric. In some cases, thedoors 62 may be formed in two leaves for more fully opening the passageto the fabric where the supporting guides are not sufficiently high toallow the doors to fully open. ,The extent of opening also controls theamount of moisture which reaches the fabric and, therefore, ordinarily,the doors are not fullyopened, but are adjusted to permit sufficientaccess to the fabric for the purpose required and are, therefore, in ameasure a simple adjusting device which controls the amount ofmoistening or humidification of the fabric without the necessity ofchanging the air both surfaces and this maybe accomplished at the sametime by employing spraying devices arranged, as illustrated in Fig. 6.In this case, there are four sets of spray nozzles, as is the case inFig. 5,-but these sets are separated by arranging two sets belowthefabric to spray upwardly and two sets arranged above the fabric to.spray downwardly. In this case, the arrangement below the fabric wouldbe as if the middle tank 20 and its spraying devices were removed andthe two tanks 18 and 19 moved closer together, with a common air conduit36, such as is indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 6. In the case of theupper spraying means, the construction would be similar to that belowthe fabric except that the spray nozzles 30 and the conduit 36'areinverted,.so that the air blast is downward instead of upward. In thiscase, I have indicated the two tanks at 18 and 19*, with the air spaceand conduit 36 between them. On account of the tank being largely belowthe spray nozzles, I prefer that the opposing faces of the two tanksshall be inclined away from each other, as at 22, to

provide a widening passage for the spray to enable it to more fullyreach the fabric. Otherwise, in general construction as to details, themeans for supplying water and spraying it is of the same character asillustrated in Fig. 5, though in. the case of the outer set of spraydevices, there would be no tray corresponding to 16 below the tanks, asthe presence of such a tray would obstruct the passage of the spraytothe cloth. Furthermore, as all of the spray from the upper set ofspraying devices will reach the fabric on account of the gravity action,aside from the airblast, the amount of the air blast may be somewhatreduced by manipulating the valve 61 which would control the air supplyto the air conduit thereof, whereby a lesser air blast may be providedfor the upper spraying devices than that employed with the lowerspraying devices.

It will now be apparent that I have devised a novel and usefulconstruction which embodies the features of advantage enumerated asdesirable, and while I have in the present instance shown and describedthe preferred embodiment thereof which has been found in practice togive satisfactory and reliable results, it is to be understood that I donot restrict myself to the details, as the same are susceptible ofmodification in various particulars without departing from the spirit orscope of the invention.

, Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is 1. In a. spraying device for textilemachinery, the combination with means for guiding a fabric in web form,of spraying means arranged below the fabric, comprising a plurality ofparallel tanks separated at a distance apart, an air conduit arranged inthe space between the tanks, pressure devices for supplying .air' to the.conduit, two sources of air nozzles opening upward from p the airconduit, and angular pipes arranged in each of the tanks extendingthrough the side walls thereof and terminating in nozzle portionsadjacent to the air nozzles whereby the air blast causes the water fromthe tanks to be sprayed from the last mentioned nozzles and projectedupwardly between the tanks toward the fabric, said tanks also providedwith means for supplying water thereto, and overflow devices formaintaining a substantially constant level of water within the tanks.

2. The invention according to claim 1, wherein each angular water pipeand its spray nozzles is adjustably clamped both to the tank wall andtothe air nozzles extending upwardly from the conduit.

3. The invention according to claim 2, wherein the adjustable connectionbetween the two nozzle portions comprises screw threaded pipes adjacentto the nozzles,-an angularframe slidably fitted over the screw threadedportions to hold the nozzles at an angle to each other, adjustablenuts'carried by the frame and respectively screwed upon the threadedpipe portions, and clamping means for clamping the frame tightly to thethreaded pipe portions when the proper adjustment is made, and whereinfurther, the angular pipe extends through an enlarged aperture in. theside of the tank and is provided with clamping nuts and packing washersupon opposite sides of the tank wall to permit adjustment of thepiipe'relatively to the walls and at the same time insure a water tightjoint.

a. The invention according to claim 1', wherein the bottom of each ofthe angular pipes extending down into the tanks is provided with ascreen and each of the tanks is provided with a cover to prevent lintfrom the fabric finding its way into the water within the tanks.

5, The invention according to claim 1, wherein further, a. large tray isprovided in which the tanks are positioned and supported above thebottom, said tank provided with apertures through which the tanks maydrain as well as the tray itself,

and a drain trough arranged below the tray and common to all of theapertures therein and to the overflow drainage from the respectivetanks.

6. The invention according to claim 5, wherein. further, the covers ofthe tanks are made inclined to insure water received thereon passing tothe tray, a. surrounding casing extending from the fabric down to thetray for confining the spray and adjustable doors arranged within theconfining space to form a closure above the tanks which may, be openedwhen the spray is required to reach the fabric and which moreover maycontrol the extent of surface of the fabric exposed to the spray at anyinstant of time.

7. The invention according to claim, 1, wherein valve mechanism isprovided between the source of air pressure and the air conduitsupporting the spray nozzles for controlling the air pressure deliveredinto the conduit to insure uniform spray blast to the series of nozzlesfor each of the tanks.

conduit being of less width than the distance between the two tanks toprovide an air space around the conduit and alsoa passage for descent ofwater.

9. The invention according to claim 8, wherein the air pipes at each endof the air conduit are united in a single pipe leading to the source ofcompressed air, and a valve device in said single pipe forsimultaneously controlling the air pressure to the opposite ends of theconduit.

10. The invention according to claim 8, wherein further, one of thetanks is provided with a transverse tubular passage extending through itfrom side to side, an air pipe extending through the tubular passage ofthe tank and communicating with the interior of the air conduitsubstantially midway between its ends, and a pipe leading from thepressure devices and common to all three air pipes which communicatewith the nozzle supporting conduit.

11. The invention according to'claim 10, wherein further the pipebetween the pressure devices and the plurality of branching pipesleading to the air conduit is provided with valve devices forcontrolling the air pressure.

12. In a spraying means for textile material, the combination with meansfor guiding textile material, of a spraying device arranged below it andconsisting of three parallel tanks united at their ends by transversewalls providing confined air spaces between the tanks open at the topand bottom, two air conduits arranged in the air spaces between thetanks and secured at each end to the connecting walls between the tanks,means for supplying compressed air to the air conduits, two series ofair nozzles arranged in parallel rows along the top of each of theconduits, water spraying nozzles for each of the air nozzles andprovided with angular water supply pipes extending laterally anddownwardly within the respective tanks, and wherein the outer tanks eachhave a single series of water spraying pipes and nozzles while themiddle tank is provided with two series of such water supplying pipesand nozzles, the nozzles of each series pointing in opposite directionsand cooperating with air nozzles of the respective air conduits,

the said spray nozzles producing upwardly directed water sprays againstthe under surface of the fabric, means for supplying water i to therespective tanks, overflow means for maintaining a definite level ofwater in said tanks and permitting the surplus water to drain ofi, adrainage tray arranged at adistance below the respective tanks forreceiving water which may be unabsorbed by the fabric, and a confiningchamber surrounding the tanks and extending toward the fabric.

13. The invention according to claim 12, wherein further separate aircontrolling means is provided for each of the air conduits.

14. The invention according to claim 1, wherein further, a secondplurality of water tanks are arranged above the first mentioned tanksand between which upper and lower tanks the fabric passes, said uppertanks further provided with an intermediate space in which an airconduit is arranged provided with downwardly extending air nozzles, saidconduit also provided with angular water pipes whose upper endsterminate in nozzle in juxta-position with the air nozzles, whereby adownwardly directed water spray is obtained upon the fabric.

15. The invention according to claim 14:, wherein further, the loweradjacent portions of the upper tanks are inclined away from each otherto form a downwardly flaring spray passage between the tanks and belowthe nozzles thereof.

In testimony of which invention, I hereunto set my hand.

HERMAN C. BREHMER.

